Saturday Morning Links

Well, that went exactly as I expected, but not particularly as I had hoped. I admit that I am still pleasantly surprised by our play in the first period, and maintain that if Roberto Luongo had not have started tonight, we could have won. Ah, well. Que sera sera.

Thrashers News:

Not a good way to end the week. Here's Chris Vivlamore's recap, Ben Wright's, and mine from SB Nation Atlanta.

Evander Kane took his little sisters to the set of the Vampire Diaries, which was sweet. He also took them to tonight's game. I think that balanced it out.

Former Thrasher Ray Ferraro offers his opinion as to why the team just isn't getting embraced by the fans, and the number one problem? Say it with me, everyone: "ownership." Nearly every former player has mentioned it as an issue - I absolutely can't understand why. Also, his point about the team lacking any identity is a very solid one.

From the aforementionend article, this quote from Luongo:

"I wrote a poem about it [crease crashing] and the least he could do is honour it," Luongo said of Byfuglien. "I’m sure he’ll come and visit for a couple of shifts and it’s all in good fun. He’s doing his job and I’m doing mine. Little challenges like that are enjoyable."

Around the NHL:

St. Louis Game Time writes a thank you letter to Dave Checketts, the Blues' owner who is regrettably having to put the team up for sale due to personal finance issues. It's odd... an owner selling the team, but really not wanting to have to sell it because he actually cares about its future. How does that even work?

One more Blues related link - Damian Cox actually writes something that I agree with. What interests me is that he actually notices that the Panthers have some really good prospects and some decent development abilities. What does not surprise me is that the Thrashers aren't on the list. (Danke to Black Ice In AL)

Speaking of people who infuriate/annoy, Ryan Lambert on Puck Daddy makes the case that hatred is a-ok for hockey; heck, sometimes it even makes the games more fun and meaningful.

Mirtle looks at man games lost to injury; six of the top ten are not in a playoff picture. The ones that are have made it there by having reserves that are quality and can fill in - like Vancouver, who are number 7. The Islanders are at the top for what I believe is the second year in a row.

In honor of Earth Hour, Houses of the Hockey lists the greatest power outages in NHL history. No surprise that these happen at some of the older arenas. 

As a wrap up, here's coach Craig Ramsay's press conference. He sounds disgusted right off of the bat, though us getting trapped in Vancouver's end for what seemed like an eternity really wasn't what cost the Thrashers the game: